Alice's Heart
by Seo Hyunee
Summary: What happens when Alice gets too comfortable in Wonderland? Alice is so used to seeing bloody fights everyday until she acutally gets hurt. In the end Alice becomes one of them! What will poor Alice do now? Tick-tock, tick-tock. . .
1. Chapter 1: The Usual   or is it?

Chapter 1: The Usual. . . or is it?

Alice was lying in her bed, face down, mumbling a few things about her older sister Lorina. She looked peaceful and her silky hair fell messily, yet gracefully, off the side of her bed.

**CRASH!**

"Ugh, what does it take to get any sleep here? " Alice mumbled. As she sat up in her bed, she looked across the room at her door, which was now lying on the floor. Dee and Dum smiled innocently at Alice from the side of the doorway, while in the middle of the doorway was Ace, showing off his goofy smile. "Hey there Alice! Why are you in my bedroom?" asked Ace, who was now approaching the sleepy brunette.

"What are you talking about Ace? This is MY room." responded Alice who was ready to beat up the smiling knight. "Nee-san, nee-san!" shouted Dee and Dum, " We wanna play! We wanna play!"

"Is that why you got Ace to break down my door?" asked Alice sarcastically as she stepped out of bed. "Nooo! It was the stupid knight who did that on his own! We just followed him" said Dee with his best smile. "Yeah! Julius let us in the Clock Tower anyways." said Dum with the same smile as Dee. "Fine, I'll go play with you guys" said Alice, who was surprised at herself for accepting the Twins offer of playing together so easily.

"Just let me change first, okay?" The brunette gently pushed the twins and Ace out of her room. "Want me to help you change?" said Ace with a perverted look on his face. "NO!" yelled Alice as she suddenly pushed all of them roughly out the doorway and into the hall.

Alice changed quickly in her closet and walked down the stairs to find Julius working on the clocks as usual. "I'm going to be playing with the Twins Julius! I'll be back before the sun sets!" yelled Alice as she was walking out the door." Julius replied with an "Mmph" without looking at the cheerful girl who was walking out the door.

_Ba-dump, ba-dump_

Alice's heart was racing as she was playing with the Twins at the Hatter Mansion. She was lucky that day since Blood went into town to buy a new top hat. Elliot was inside doing paper work. His face was pressed against the window looking at Alice, who looking rather beautiful while running around the lawn with the Twins. _I wish I could be playing with Alice_. . sighed the hare.

"Hey Nee-san," said Dee "How about we go to the amusement park to see if Boris wants to play with us?" said Dum finishing the sentence. "Okay then," said Alice without hesitating. They all walked off into the forest.

Elliot ran out of the Hatter's mansion and decided to stalk-err I mean follow Alice. Elliot followed them all the way to the amusement park. As he just arrived he heard many gunshots filling up the air and then a scream. He ran quickly to the sound of the gunshots to find a bloody scene. Elliot's eyes grew wide to find a pair of blue eyes staring back at him.

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><p><strong>Before Elliot Arrived at the Amusement Park:<strong>

Alice and Twins stumbled upon Gowland who was arguing with Blood.

"Oh Mary, why the long face?" said Blood sarcastically. "Am I bothering you right now Mary?" Gowland scowled and was furious. He held his violin and lifted it up. It was now a rifle which was pointing at Blood's face. _I still can't figure out how they take weapons out of thin air thought_ Alice.

"THAT'S IT DUPRE! YOU ASKED FOR IT!" yelled Gowland who was maniacally laughing by now.

Blood flicked up his cane, which turned into a gun. Gowland shot randomly at Blood, who was dodging the bullets effortlessly. "It seems that the young lady has come to watch the show" said Blood who was looking at Alice. Alice blushed, "No, I was not! Now stop fighting you two!" But Alice's efforts to stop them did nothing. Soon it was turning into an all out brawl as the people of the amusement park and supporters of the mafia began to fight each other.

_This is so dangerous. . . I can't believe they're wasting their lives like this_ thought Alice. Alice looked to find the twins in their adult forms fighting in the brawl. Dee slashed a man in half with a grin on his face, blood splattering everywhere. Dum threw a grenade into the crowd killing at least six people.

_This is getting way out of control! I need to get out!_ Alice thought. Alice quickly ran out of the brawl without being hit by a weapon, only being splattered by blood. She leaned against one of the shops looking at the battle. Something caught her eye. Pink. Then suddenly Alice saw the pink move up and it was Boris. He was laughing as he shot three men in the head. "Hey there Alice!" shouted Boris. "You should get outta here before ya get hurt!" the cat waved at the brunette, trying to find his way to her. All of a sudden, something happened, it all happened so slowly.

As Alice was leaning against the wall a cloaked man walked in front of her. "Alice Liddell?" asked the man darkly. "Yes?" squeaked Alice, who was starting to move away. "Good bye" said the man. Alice gasped and then screamed. She looked down at her chest which was slowly consumed by the color of red. A knife was directly on her heart. _Oh no, oh no, oh no! I can't die now. . Nee-san_. Alice thought. _I'm so sorry Nee-san, I'm so sorry. _

Blood saw Alice's fragile body fall onto the hard and cold cobblestone floor. Gowland turned his head to see and was horrified. "STOP!" screamed Blood and Gowland. Boris quickly ran to Alice's side, almost breaking into girly tears. "Alice, Alice! Wake up, please don't die! I need you!" sobbed Boris.

Blood and Gowland came to Alice's side while the twins pushed the people out of the amusement park. "I. . ." then Alice's words stopped as her world began to swirl in black. She turned her head and the last person she saw was Elliot who was hiding behind the bushes.


	2. Chapter 2: Ticktock, Ticktock

**Hello there! I'm sorry! I forgot to introduce myself! I'm seo hyun! Well, this story might turn out to be strange, hehehe it's my first story. Please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Heart no Kuni no Alice!**

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><p>Chapter 2: Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock<p>

Elliot couldn't believe what he just saw. He quickly rushed over to Blood and the others and stood by Alice's left side as she was slowly dying.

"Get an ambulance and take Alice to the hospital NOW!" ordered Blood to a few faceless people. Soon the ambulance came rushing to Alice's side taking her away to the hospital. They all followed the van and arrived at the hospital.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what to do. She's going to die, all we can do is make her feel comfortable before she goes away." said the faceless doctor.

"No! There has to be a way to save her!" said Blood who was on the verge of killing someone. The doctor looked at the mafia boss with terrified eyes. Then, he came up an idea. A crazy idea, but it may work to save Alice's life.

"There is one way we can save her," said the faceless doctor slowly. " I think it is possible. We can replace Alice's heart with. . . " he hesitated.

"With what?" said Blood.

"A clock. . " said the doctor quietly.

Everyone in the room, Boris, the Bloody Twins, Elliot, and Gowland, stared the faceless doctor as if he was mad.

"NO! Alice can still live with a heart. She has to!" sobbed Boris. "What's gonna happen to her? We can't do this!"

"Nee-sans gonna be one of us now?" questioned the twins.

"Boris stop it. If we want Alice to live, we have to replace her heart with a clock. It's the only way to save her." said Gowland.

All of the residents of Hatter's mansion and the amusement park accepted it. Gowland left before Alice's operation and went to find the others to tell them the bad news. Right before the nurses wheeled Alice into the operating room, she said something. Boris looked at her trying to listen, but her words were inaudible. Blood looked at her with a confusing yet loving gaze. "What did you say Alice?"

But it was too late, she was already in the operating room. "Alice!"

It was a long and tireless 10 hour wait for Alice's operation. By now, the waiting room was already filled with all the role holders of Wonderland. Gray was holding a cute stuffed animal for Alice when she came out of the operating room. He had such a worried look on his face. Julius actually stopped working on his clocks and sat the room with a stone face. Vivaldi was crying and ordered two servants to be executed while waiting. Peter was pacing around the room with a worried expression and kept talking to himself. Ace had his goofy smile on. He did not show any remorse for the foreigner yet he wasn't happy about what had happened. Pierce felt bad. He wasn't there at the amusement park when the brawl had broken out. He sighed and kept saying "chu. . ." Nightmare was holding hypoallergenic flowers in his hands looking at all the role holders. He had an urge and decided to read what was going on in their minds.

Julius: How can she be so careless? Usually she comes home safe and sound at the clock tower. I should have paid more attention to her. Now it's possibly too late to tell her how I feel. . .

Vivaldi: Our precious Alice is hurt! We shall order more execution for Alice! (Kinda weird gift for Alice. . . hehehe)

Peter: My beloved Alice! Oh how your beautiful eyes may never open again! I love you so much Alice! I love you! Please be okay! Please be alive!

Ace: (Who knows what's going on in his mind. . . )

Boris: I should have been more careful! I should have been with her when that brawl broke out. I saw her and yet I decided to get into the fight and only waved at her. . . I could have saved her. . .

Gowland: My fights with Blood has caused Alice to get hurt. . . Maybe next time I should deal with Blood in the forest. . .

Pierce: Chu . . . I'm sorry Alice. . . I should have been there. . . I only hid and stayed in the forest to get away from Boris. . .

Blood: Alice. . . I. . . .

Elliot: Wahhh! Alice, alice! Our days of tea time together may be lost forever! I wish I could have been there for you! I should have stopped working and played with you and the twins! why?

Twins: Nee-san. . . our favorite nee-san. . . now we may never get to try our favorite weapon on you. . .

Gray: (Nightmare couldn't penetrate his thoughts. . .hehehe)

The faceless doctor came out of the operating room with a confident smile. "Everyone, Alice has successfully and safely gotten her operation. Her heart has been replaced with a clock. You may all come into her room if you would like."

All of them stood up and stared at each other. They didn't know what to say when they walked into Alice's room. There she was on the bed. Eyes closed and beautiful brown hair draping along the bedsides. Her hair bow was on the table while her clothes she wore where in a plastic bag on a seat across from her bed. The role holders only heard soft breathing from the tiny girl.

_Ugh. . . what's going on. ._ Alice thought. She opened her eyes and everything looked blurry for a moment. _Julius? What's he doing here. .. So is Peter and Vivaldi and everyone else. . Huh?_

"Alice!" yelled Peter. He was about to jump onto Alice but Blood held him back.

"You rabbit. You should be careful since Alice got her operation!" hissed Blood. Peter's ears drooped.

"What's going on? Why am I in a hospital? The last thing I remember was dying at the amusement park after Blood and Gowland were fighting." said Alice.

"Well, after you got hit by a knife. . . we took you to the hospital and then they replaced. . " Boris stopped talking.

"Replaced what?" asked Alice. No one dared say anything. The room was silent as Alice stared at all of them.

"Your heart." said Julius who finally broke the silence.

"My heart? What?" said Alice who was confused. She placed her hand over her heart where it should be.

_Tick-Tock, Tick-tock, Tick-tock_

_Oh no oh no .. . . my heart. . it became a clock! _Alice was started to feel panicky. She reached into her pocket to look at her vial. It was broken and the liquid remaining turned into a black thick fluid. _No. . NO!_

Alice panicked and stepped out of bed. "No you shouldn't Alice! You just got operated on!" said Gray who was really starting to feel bad for the foreigner.

Alice refused and she ran out of the room leaving behind the sad role- holders in the room. "Alice. . . " said Blood softly.

Tears streamed out of the young girl's eyes. Everything was turning blurry as if she was being washed over by something. _No, no, NO!_ thought Alice. I_ must have a heart. How can I come back to my own world! I'm going to be stuck here forever. . . Do I want to stay? What will the others think of me?_

_I remember the man who stepped in front of me. . . But who was he? he was definately someone I do not know. . He had a mask which covered only part of his face. . . _Alice had already ran up the stairs of the hospital, tears still gushing out. . . _I don't think I can take this anymore. . . _Alice ran up to the top of the roof of the hospital staring at Wonderland before her eyes. _It's so beautiful. . . but now I can never see Nee-san. . . _Alice held the broken vial tightly in her hands. Alice crept up to the edge of the building looking below the streets of faceless people.

_Should I do it? Nee-san, I'm sorry. . ."_

"NOOOO!" screamed Julius. This was the first time the soft spoken and shy clockmaker had ever screamed. He rushed to Alice and grabbed her before she jumped off the building.

"Julius! Let go of me," sobbed Alice "I can never go back so why should I even live?"

"Don't waste your life like this! I need you, I-I-love you," said the blushing clockmaker. Alice stared back at him with her blue eyes. Alice, who was carried bridal style down the stairs, put her hand on Julius's chest.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock. _

She felt her own heart, her left hand still on Julius's chest.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock._

As Julius brought Alice inside, the other role-holders finally arrived to find Alice crying against Julius's chest. Even though Peter wanted to call Julius names and take Alice from him, something held Peter back from doing so. He never felt like this before. Blood stared the clockmaker with sharp eyes. He grunted and left the scene.

_Nee-san. . . This MUST be a dream . . I have to come back. . . . I have to . . _. then, Alice blacked out.

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><p><strong>So how was it? :D Please review ;) I thought that it should have been Blood saving Alice from doing suicide but I prefer Julius 3. Hmmm. . . what will become of Alice Liddell? <strong>


	3. Chapter 3: It's Okay

**Seo hyun here! :D Well, I thought that everything I wrote was kinda rushed so I'm going to TRY to slow things down for the meanwhile. Poor Blood. . and Peter. . . I wonder what they're feeling right now. . .**

**Julius times his confessions at bad moments.. . saying "I Love you" before Alice committed suicide. . wow. . . Well enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Heart no Kuni no Alice!**

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><p>Chapter Three: It's Okay<p>

Alice had passed out after crying so much when Julius carried her back inside the hospital. The girl was obviously scarred for life from this situation. The sleeping girl was gently placed onto her hospital bed. Gray placed the cute stuffed animal in her hands and actually gave a kiss on her forehead. Julius, Boris, Peter, Blood, and Elliot's mouths gaped open at Gray's act of affection towards the foreigner. All the role holders once again stared at each other silently. Gray was slightly blushing as he went to his seat. Then Ace broke the silence.

"Why the long faces guys?" asked Ace with a strange grin on his face."It's not like Alice will die now. She got a clock so now she can live and be replaced if killed again." He smiled while saying this.

"How dare you-you-you lowly knight!" yelled Vivaldi. "We shall not allow our Alice to be killed again!"

"What should we do now that Alice has a clock?" Boris asked glumly. The role-holders thought for a moment.

"Treat her like we always did before this happened," answered Nightmare. "Although she has lost her heart, she is still a foreigner. She is no different from before this situation."

"I agree too but. . ." Boris's voice strayed away.

"But what?" asked Elliot.

"But what if Alice can't come to accept this and she changes herself? How will we treat her then?" asked Boris. The punk-cat boy was already close to breaking down in tears again. To relieve his stress, he pinched Pierce's ears. "Ouch chu!" shouted Pierce "That was mean! if Alice-chan saw you doing this she would scold you!" Gowland, out of nowhere, started to laugh at Boris and Pierce. His lively laugh kind of lightened the situation.

"Alice will always be Alice. The way you want to treat her is up to you guys. But Alice will always be Alice." said Gowland with a smile on his face. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

Alice opened her eyes. She couldn't control herself and started to cry again with tears rushing down her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted that way. I am lucky to be alive." The blue eyed girl turned her eyes towards the clockmaker, who was standing near the doorway. He blushed as the girl looked at her. Ace's eyebrow went up with a confused look on his face.

"Why you blushing Julius?" asked the knight teasingly.

"I'm not blushing. Now leave me alone. I see that Alice is okay, so I'm going first." Julius waved goodbye and slowly started to walk out of the door.

"Hahaha. . . seems like Julius did something perverted to Alice on the rooftop," said Ace in a childish tone. Gray and Blood gave a nasty look at Julius who quickly dashed out the door. Alice sat up in her hospital bed. She noticed the cute stuffed animal in her hands. She smiled. _Gray's so sweet and kind._ "Thank you Gray." Gray blushed even harder. Blood was started to get mad as Alice smiled at Gray.

After chatting with the others for a little bit to keep things going, Vivaldi, Peter, Gowland, Elliot, the Twins, and Ace left the room leaving Gray, Boris, Pierce, and Blood behind.

"See you later nee-san! We'll bring our favorite weapons again if you'd like," said Dee and Dum. "I would love that," said Alice, slightly regretting what she had said. "Don't force Alice to look at those stupid toys!" said Elliot who was annoyed. "Hey, we didn't ask you, you sissy rabbit!" said Dee. " You're not the boss of nee-san!" said Dum sticking his tongue out. "Hey get back here!" shouted Elliot as he chased the bloody twins out of the room.

"Well, gotta go and do some knightly duties for Vivaldi," said Ace. Before he walked out the door with the others, he went to Alice's bedside and gave her a kiss on the lips. Alice's eyes went wide and had no time to react. Only time to close her eyes and feel Ace's gentle lips pressing towards her own. Blood snarled and pulled out his gun. He shot a few times in Ace's direction and Ace slipped away. "See you later Alice," grinned Ace.

Blood was furious and stormed out of the room leaving Gray, Boris, and Pierce in the room. "Well we gotta go too Alice," said Boris with a smile creeping upon his face." Come on Pierce, let's go." "But I don't wanna go!" wailed Pierce. Boris jabbed Pierce in the ribs and stared at Gray, hinting towards the mouse that Gray should have alone time with Alice. "Ohhhh, yeah, see you Alice! Bye gray! chu!" said the mouse who was being dragged out by Boris.

Now it was just Gray and Alice alone in the room.

"Gray, if you want to go back to clover tower its fine by me," said Alice.

"No it's fine. I love you." (whoops) Gray just realized what had just slipped out of his mouth.

"What did you say Gray?" Alice was now confused as she looked at the ex-assassin.

"No-nothing, I just want to keep you company while you recover."

"Thank you Gray. You're so sweet and kind."

Gray was already blushing fiercely and couldn't control himself from getting red. Alice suddenly grabbed Grays tie and pulled him towards her.

"Wah- wait Alice?"

She pulled him so close that their faces were inches apart. Gray closed his eyes. Then felt a small and delicate hand on his chest.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock._

Alice frowned as she felt Gray's chest and her own. She started to cry again.

"It's okay Alice. It's okay." as the ex-assassin comforted the crying brunette in his arms.

"Gray? Do you think I will change?" asked the weeping girl.

"No not at all. You'll always be the Alice that Wonderland loves." said Gray in a soothing voice.

Alice feel asleep in Gray's arms then heard a man's voice.

_Alice, Alice. . . This is not a dream wake up.. . . wake up. . . _

An image of Lorina passed in front of Alice's eyes. _Nee-san. . ._

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><p><strong>Whew! that was a hard chapter! I didn't know who should have their alone time with Alice at this point! I thought about Julius so he could continue on with his feelings from earlier but nawww. . . I thought about Gray instead since he had a stuff animal hehehehe :) Poor Blood. . . idk if he's jealous or if he can't handle the fact Alice has a clock as a heart now. <strong>

**What will Ace do to Alice now? Feeling realized? Dan-dan-dan! :O**


	4. Chapter 4: Normal? I dont' think so

**Seo hyun here! :D Well, I got so excited that I wanna do chapter four now! :) I see that Gray and Alice had their "moment" together! woah! :D**

**Please enjoy and review please!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Heart no Kuni no Alice!**

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><p>Chapter Four: Normal? I don't think so. . . actually. . . idk. . .<p>

After a few weeks of recovering in the hospital, Alice was able to go back to Clover Tower. Gray came to pick Alice up while Nightmare stood about 30 feet from the hospital doors. The weather was perfect and it was sunny.

"Gray-ay! Hurry up! " whined the incubus. "you know hospitals make me feel sick" The incubus started to feel blood coming up his throat.

*BLECH!*

Nightmare couldn't hold it in and threw up blood onto the pavement as Alice and Gray approached him.

"Nightmare, I don't even know why you're here," said Gray. "You know you have lots of paperwork piling up and throwing up blood doesn't make it any better."

"Awww! But I wanted to see Alice!"

"Sometimes I wonder why I even try to help. . ."

Alice giggled at the two who started to get into a quarrel about work and such. "Are you okay Alice?" asked ex-assassin. He looked at her with a loving gaze. Alice looked away blushing, "Yeah, I'm fine Gray. It's okay."

Alice clutched onto Gray to keep her balance as all three of them were walking to Clover tower. The path felt like it was going on forever. Alice wasn't use to having a clock as a heart and had a hard time breathing. Gray saw that she getting tired and lifted her up.

"Ah-ah- Gray?" the girl questioned the ex-assassin as he lifted her onto his back, piggy-back style.

"It's okay Alice! You looked like you were getting exhausted from this walking" Gray smiled.

"Heyyy! Why don't you ever give me piggy-back rides?" whined the incubus.

"Because you're sick every day, mentally and physically."

"Hmph. . ." Nightmare rolled his eyes and walked on.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock_

_Such a strange noise to hear from myself_, Alice thought. _Clocks aren't scary. . . it's just the sound that makes me scared. . ._ Alice looked up at Gray, who didn't look tired at all carrying her, and saw Nightmare still complaining about the piggy-back ride. No longer could the brunette keep her eyes open and was soon swept over by sleep. Gray looked over his shoulder to find Alice gently sleeping and breathing. She was breathing really close to his ears and he felt himself blush a little bit.

"Anything wrong Gray?" asked Nightmare in a curious tone.

"No-nothing . . ." responded the embarrassed ex-assassin.

"Right. . . " Nightmare rolled his eyes. They had finally arrived at the clover tower and saw Julius working on his clocks. The clockmaker stopped his work and looked up to see if Alice was okay. Jealousy swept over his face as he saw Gray carrying Alice on his back.

"We're back~~" sang Nightmare. By this time, the incubus was complaining about the cold and started to wrap himself burrito style in thick blankets. Julius saw Gray shake the brunette gently to wake her up.

"Mmmm. . ." the girl mumbled.

"Alice, we're here," said Gray. Julius got up from his desk and helped Gray. He gave a few harsh glances at the lizard man who was slightly red in the ears from Alice's breathing.

"I love you. . ." mumbled Alice. The three men in the room froze and stared at Alice. "Nee-san. . ." The Gray and Julius gave a huge sigh of relief as the girl went back to mumbling in her sleep.

"I guess I'll put her upstairs then," said Gray. "But Gray-ay! I want hot chocolate now!" said the sickly incubus who was starting to cough up blood. He had a smirk on his face. He was looking at Julius who gave him a scowl and turned away.

"I know what you're thinking," said the incubus with a smile.

"huh?" Gray looked confused.

"nothing," sighed the clockmaker.

"Here I'll take Alice upstairs so you can make Nightmare-sama hot chocolate," said Julius. He felt kind of awkward telling Gray this. He never really stopped fixing clocks for things like this. The ex-assassin glared at the clockmaker for a moment before giving out a sigh.

"Fine," said Gray as he gently gave Alice over to Julius who was carrying her like a bride. Julius walked to the stairway slightly going red from the way he was carrying Alice. _She looks beautiful_ thought Julius. He blushed even harder at any thought of Alice. He finally made it to Alice's bedroom and placed her onto her bed. She looked sort of like Snow White, waiting for her prince to come and wake her up.

Julius sat by her. His eyes intensified as he looked at Alice and moved in closer. He whispered in her ear, "I love you no matter what." He gave a kiss to the sleeping girl. As he was kissing Alice Gray walked into the room. His eyes widened at the clockmaker who quickly moved himself away from Alice. The two men looked at each other hard and Gray was already fuming with anger. He breathed out once again and just walked away, as if it never happened. The clockmaker went back quickly to his clocks, embarrassed that the ex-assassin had saw what he was doing.

By dinner time, Alice had woken up in her bedroom. _Am I still dreaming?_ thought the brunette. _I'm back at clover tower. I was dreaming. The girl touched her heart._

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock._

Alice gasped for moment about to cry, but then just sighed. She jumped out of bed and walked downstairs to find the incubus wrapped in his blankets, Julius working on his clocks, and Gray in the kitchen cooking poisonous-err actually delicious food. (hehehe)

She smiled at the scene she was looking at. The three men looked at her and smiled all at the same time.

"Glad you're awake Alice," said Gray. "I'm making dinner and it's almost done!"

"You should have slept Alice, now you might actually die from Gray's cooking," teased the sickly incubus. Gray scowled and went back into the kitchen. Julius didn't look back up and continued working on his clocks. Alice smiled again and sat next to the clockmaker who was fixing the clocks like a "god". As Julius finished his last clock, Gray called them all for dinner. The meal was really silent as they ate Gray's cooking. They all tried to hold down the food without offending the ex-assassin.

Alice kept touching her lips. Something bothered her.

"Umm. . ." Alice said quietly.

"Hm?" said Gray and Julius at the same time. They glared at each other before turning their eyes back to Alice.

"I feel like my lips have been touched or something. . ." said the brunette who felt confused. "I don't know but this feeling was really bothering me, sorry."

The clockmaker blushed while Gray stood up and left the table. Nightmare giggled as he read Julius's mind.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock_

Alice could still feel her heart-err clock beating as they ate. _Normal huh? _

Alice sat in her bed after dinner trying to collect her memories of what had happened before. _So all of this really did happen then. . . What should I do? Hmm . . . I guess I should visit Blood and Gowland since they helped me earlier get to the hospital. _

The young girl slowly closed her eyes as she was trying to remember the man's face. _It was cloaked, but he had a mask that partially covered his face. . . who is he? _As Alice slept she could still hear her clock.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock._

She could hear a man's voice in her head. _Alice, you shall be gaining a role soon. . . farewell my . . . ._

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><p><strong>Sooo? How was that? Pretty daring move that Julius made? ehh? :D Well, I feel like I need to rush this story. I want to finish it within ten or fifteen chapters. I might make a sequel to this. Hmmm. . more ideas. . yea! :)<strong>

**I don't know if Blood or Boris should appear next. . Maybe Ace instead. . :)**


	5. Chapter 5: Is it real or not?

**Hey Everyone! Seo Hyun here! :D Thanks for the reviews! Well, to the person who wrote about the hospitals, I thought there should be some since in the manga, Alice mentioned something about Nightmare going to a hospital. Idk! But hospitals make it more interesting. . . hehehe ^_^**

**Well, enjoy chapter 5! Ace, will he finally realize his true feelings for Alice? dan-dan-dan! :O**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Heart no Kuni no Alice!**

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><p>Chapter Five: Is it real or not?<p>

_Alice, you shall be gaining a role soon. . . farewell my . . . ._ The voice drifted too far away that Alice wasn't able to hear the end of the sentence. _What role am I getting? I so confused right now. . . I just want everything to be normal. . ._ thought Alice. Alice woke up and sat in bed for a moment, trying her best not to break down. She placed her hand over her clock.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock._

It still felt strange listening to her own heartbeat sounding like a clock. She smiled, thinking that she could accept her fate. Then it hit her again. _I won't be able to Nee-san again. . . _She quickly dressed out of her nightgown and threw on some clothes and went downstairs to eat breakfast. There at the breakfast table, she saw more of Gray's "delicious" cooking and Nightmare complaining about finishing paperwork.

"Oh you're awake Alice! Good morning, how do you feel?" asked Gray who had a hint of concern in his voice.

"I feel great. Much more better than yesterday," smiled Alice. She walked over to the table and sat down staring at Gray's cooking. _Ugh, I hope this isn't as bad as last night's meal. _As Alice was eating, she kept thinking about the man's voice she heard. _Alice, you shall be gaining a role soon. . . farewell my . . . . Farewell my what? What is the man talking about. . ._ Nightmare looked up at Alice, his face turning serious all of a sudden.

"Alice, are you okay?" asked the incubus. Alice was all ready daydreaming about what had happen. She snapped out of her trance.

"Huh? Oh I'm fine Nightmare. I just feel a little bit bothered by something."

"Hmm. . . your role. . ." mumbled Nightmare.

"What?"

"Nothing, go finish your breakfast."

Alice quickly finished her food and started to make her way to the door. The clockmaker (I think it should be watchmaker, but oh well) lifted his head up to the brunette.

"Where are you going?"

"I 'm going to find Gowland and then Blood to thank them." answered the girl.

"Oh." The incubus looked at Julius and gave a smirk.

"Ohhhh. . .seems like Julius wants-" before the incubus could finish, Julius had already covered his mouth and dragged him away from the room.

"Well, be safe Alice," said Gray.

"Don't worry, I WILL," emphasized Alice. The brunette walked out of clover tower and headed into the forest and started following the path. Suddenly, two faceless men jumped out of the bushes. Alice's first instinct was to run away from them, but they blocked the path. Alice closed her eyes._ Not again. . . help! _Then out of nowhere, Ace came the rescue and slaughtered the two faceless men. Blood splattered onto his face and onto Alice's apron.

Ace gave a hearty laugh before picking up Alice and taking her away from the scene.

"Ace! You can put me down now! I'm alright," said the brunette who started to feel scared.

"Oh, I thought you would try to run away from me, so I took you," said the knight sheepishly. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to the amusement park first, then the mansion." Ace looked around.

"Huh? isn't the amusement park the other way?" said the knight as he pointed in a random direction.

"No Ace, that's the way to the castle, I'm trying to find my way to the amusement park," sighed the girl. _Ace is hopeless sometimes. . ._

"Oh, here let me take you to the amusement park then!" grinned Ace. He swept up Alice and started to walk down a random path.

"ACE!" Alice struggled to get out of his grip. The whole time Alice was scolding Ace for taking her, she hadn't realize that they were lost.

"Oh no," groaned Alice. It was already nighttime and the two of them were stuck in the middle of nowhere (actually the forest) together. Ace already pitched a tent as Alice sat down on a fallen log_. I can't believe I actually got lost AGAIN with Ace._

As Alice yawned, Ace grabbed her wrists and took her inside the tiny red tent.

"Wah-Ace? What are you doing?" the girl was confused as Ace climbed on top of her.

"Alice-" the knight paused and then put himself on top of the girl, placing his head onto her chest. Alice blushed staring at the knight.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock._

The knight began to kiss Alice's neck and started to move up towards her face. Alice winced and tried to push Ace away from.

"Stop Ace!"

"Why I should I stop?" asked the knight who seemed to be enjoying this.

"I thought you only cared for me because of my heartbeat, not for me!" Ace stared at the girl and did something unlike him. He pulled away and started to frown. Alice just realized what she had said. _Great. . . now he might actually kill me. . ._

Ace looked at the girl with loving eyes, eyes that you couldn't look away from. Alice stared at Ace in a trance like state.

"I love you," said Ace straightforwardly.

"What?"

"I love you"

"But-but" The knight leaned in closer to Alice. Her clock was ticking even faster and felt as if Ace could hear it. Ace gave Alice a kiss on her lips just before he tackled her down back onto the sleeping bags. Alice started to cry and Ace stopped again.

"Alice-"

"Please stop," sobbed the brunette.

Ace hugged Alice tightly in his arms. "I don't know what to do Alice. My clock, it feels as if it wants to burst. I thought I only liked you for your heartbeat. . . Is this love real or not?" The knight looked sincere as he spoke to Alice.

_He's telling the truth_ thought Alice. _Is the this really Ace? Is this what he was feeling all along?_

Ace stopped hugging Alice and crawled into his sleeping bag. "Good night Alice."

"Good night Ace." Alice crawled into her sleeping bag and faced opposite from Ace. Alice felt very light and found herself in a dream. She saw the same cloaked man who tried to kill her.

"Alice, you're not dreaming, wake up. I have a role for you."

"What are you talking about, please leave me alone!" The man approached Alice and everything started to swirl black. Alice woke up breathing hard and sat up to catch her breath. She looked to her right, but Ace was gone.

"Ace?" She climbed out of the tent and found the knight already making breakfast for the two of them. They both ate breakfast in silence. Afterwards, Ace and Alice went their ways and said good-bye.

"Don't forget what I told you, Alice," smiled the knight. Alice started to feel goosebumps along her arms.

"Ye-yeah," stuttered Alice. She walked into the direction of the amusement park and found Gowland and Boris arguing about something.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock._

Alice smiled at the two as she approached them. _Then again, is this real or is it not?_

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><p><strong>Wow! Things are turning out pretty good for Alice! ;) Seems like everyone's true feelings just for Alice is coming out! yea! :D Ace now realizes his feelings, what will Alice do with the other three men who are after her? <strong>

**Please review, and give any ideas to make the story even better! Coming up next, Blood and Alice's role! :O**


	6. Chapter 6: Explain my job!

**Hey! Seo hyun here! :) Whoops . . . I lied, Blood is gonna be coming in later in the story. Here's Boris instead hehehehe :) Please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Heart no Kuni no Alice!**

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><p>Chapter Six: Explain my job!<p>

Nightmare gasped at what he just felt_. Oh no, Alice!_ Alice soon was going to find out her fate in Wonderland.

Alice had arrived at the amusement park and immediately saw Boris and Gowland arguing. As she walked up to the duo, she saw blood dripping on the floor. It was coming from Boris's arm and shoulder. He winced as Gowland scolded the poor cat boy.

"Boris, what did you do to yourself?" exclaimed Alice. "It's none of YOUR business Alice!" yelled Boris and he stormed away from Gowland and Alice. Blood still dripped across the amusement park floor.

"Hey! you better stop bleeding or I will make you pay!" yelled Gowland. Boris just made a face and ran off to his room.

"Geez, that guy has become stranger and stranger every day," commented Gowland as he scratched his head.

_I didn't know that Boris was this mean. . . what did I do wrong?_ Alice dropped her head and felt like she was worthless after Boris yelled at her. Gowland looked at the foreigner with concern.

"Don't feel sad Alice," said Gowland who was trying to comfort her. "He's just having a hard time accepting. . ." his voice then trailed off.

"Accepting what?" Alice asked in a curious tone.

"Your clock."

"What? My clock? Is there something wrong to have a clock? All of you guys have clocks as hearts. It's not as if I'm not me anymore. . ."

"Well, I don't know. . . He's been like this since the incident. Why don't you go check up on him, you might make him feel better," smiled Gowland.

Alice nodded her head in agreement and walked to Boris's bedroom. As she opened the door, she found Boris holding a gun to her head.

"Boris?" Alice was trembling as Boris held the gun on the trigger.

"Alice. . . you're not Alice!" Boris's lips quivered as he stared the blue eyed girl.

"What are you talking about? I'm me!" Alice never seen Boris act like this before, none the less hold a gun to her head. Alice closed her eyes shut and heard a clanging noise on the floor. She opened her eyes and saw the pink gun sitting on the floor.

"Alice. . ." Boris broke out into tears after dropping the gun. "I'm so sorry Alice. . . I don't know what came over me."

Alice held the cat-boy in her arms as he was softly crying. She started to pet his head and hears a soft purr come from him. She continued to pet him and calmed him down.

"A-alice, I'm so sorry. . ." cried Boris. "You wouldn't have gotten hurt if I came to your side at that fight. If I was there by your side, I could have fought off the man who tried to kill you." Boris looked pretty pathetic (well in my eyes haha) as he cried in Alice's arms.

"Alice, you will always be the same, won't you?" for some reason, Boris stared with pleading eyes.

"Boris. . . I will always be me, no matter what. So don't worry," smiled Alice. "Now let's clean up your wounds." Her eyes moved over to Boris's shoulder and arm which was still bleeding. Alice brought out the first aid kit and started to clean and wrap up the wounds.

"Alice. . . you're amazing," purred Boris.

Alice smiled again. Out of nowhere, Boris gave a quick kiss on Alice's cheek. She blushed and smiled while cleaning off the wounds. Afterwards, Alice brought Boris outside and both of them spotted Pierce and Gowland.

"Alice~~ chu!" yelled Pierce. "I missed you soooo much!" Pierce stretched out his arms and as he was about to hug the small girl, he was shoved away by Boris. Alice giggled as Pierce started to run away from Boris.

"Get back here you mouse!" Boris was chasing Pierce who was wailing the whole time. "Wahhh! Alice-chan~~! chu~~! "

Alice broke them up and held Pierce close her so Boris couldn't chase Pierce away. "Alice-chan! Are you feeling better?" asked the cute mouse. "Yes, much more better than yesterday," smiled Alice.

"That's great! Now we can hang out more together! chu~~!" Boris rolled his eyes as the mouse acted all cute for Alice.

"Well, I just wanted to say thank you to all of you for visiting me in the hospital," said Alice. "I hope I wasn't much of the hassle, especially to you Gowland, since you got everyone to come see me."

Gowland smiled. "Nawww! It was nothing Alice! You were hurt and needed your friends! Wanna hear me play my new song on the violin? I composed it just for you!"

"Wai-"

***SCREECHHHHHH!***

Gowland's horrible violin playing could be heard throughout the park and it terrible from a far distance, but for the three teens who were standing in the epicenter, it was just pure torture. Tears started to weld up in Alice's eyes are the horrible violin playing continued on.

"STOP! MARY GOWLAND!" shouted Alice. Gowland immediately stopped and anger fired up in his eyes.

"ARGHHH! THAT STUPID DUPRE! HE JUST HAD TO TELL EVERYONE AND NOW EVEN YOU KNOW IT!" Gowland was hysterical as he was throwing his tantrum. Pierce had run away because he got scared from the screaming and the violin playing.

"Well, Alice already knew your name from the start when she arrived in Wonderland," said Boris nonchalantly.

Boris had to calm the man down. "Well, see you later Alice! Thanks for everying." Boris gave his friendly smile to Alice. Alice walked off to the path back to clover tower. "See you later Boris, bye Gowland!"

Gowland didn't pay attention as he was still throwing his tantrum about Blood. Alice smiled at the duo who were walking back to their rooms.

_Ahhh. . . Gray and Julius must be worried about me. . I spent a night with Ace in a tent. . . _Alice shook her head as she thought about Ace. _It's so strange, everyone has been acting weird lately. . . ever since I got my heart replaced by clock._

Suddenly, Alice's foot got snagged by a branch and she tripped. She soon felt dizzy and started to moan for a moment, then passed out.

Someone appeared in front of her (in her dream like state). It was the same man who tried to kill her. Or she thought it was a man. . . It was actually a woman who was wearing the same mask that partially covered her face!

"Hello their Alice, I have come to give you a role," said the woman eerily. She gave a sweet smile, just like her Nee-san, to the stunned Alice.

"A-a-a- role? You mean like a job?" asked Alice. She was confused. She was ready to run away but her feet were planted to the ground.

"My time is almost up Alice. I wanted to give my role to you."

"What? Wai-"

"I give you the role of the gardener. I love you so much Alice."

As Alice peered closer towards the woman, she gasped. It was her Nee-san!

"Nee-san? Nee-san! Is that you? Please wait! Come back," cried Alice. Tears welled up in her eyes. "What are you talking about, please don't leave me!"

But her Nee-san disappeared and Alice had already woken up from the dream. She was lying on the forest floor crying. The sun hit her tears but none of them dried up. The tears just kept going and going.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock._

_Nee-san. . . you came to Wonderland before. . . your time is up? is that why you're ill? how? _Alice's thoughts became jumbled as she began to pass out. She noticed a small rose ring on her left hand. It glittered in the sun. _So beautiful._ She saw Peter approach her.

"Alice! My love!"

Then Alice passed out.

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><p><strong>Wow. . . Alice. . . she became a role holder! :O But what do you think? does the gardener sound okay? don't worry I'll explain her role later ;) And for Boris.. . awww. . Alice and Boris are such besties! So cute! 3 <strong>

**Oh no! Peter's gonna take Alice! When will Alice ever get to thank and visit Blood and the others at Hatter's mansion? T^T Thanks for reading, please review! Next chapter, Peter's explanation and apology :O**


	7. Chapter 7: I'm sorry

**Hello there! Seo Hyun here! :) Omg. . I just noticed at the end of Chapter six that I was repeating actions a lot (like "passed out" or "tears welling", etc) hahaha. . . please forgive me! ^_^**

**Hehehe I wanted Peter to actually tell his intentions to Alice! :D The truth, slowly and surely, slips out of Wonderland's grasp! Alice will soon know the "truth"!**

***Dan-dan-dan!* :O Please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Heart no Kuni no Alice!**

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><p>Chapter Seven: I'm sorry<p>

After Peter called out to Alice, she already fainted and was lying unconscious on the forest floor. Peter's eyes looked worry as he started to pick up Alice. He could feel her heartbeat as he walked to heart castle with her in his arms.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock._

Peter's ears drooped even further. _This is all of my fault. . . I am happy that Alice is here, but all that I do gives Alice pain and sadness. . . Should I tell her?_

They finally reached the castle and Alice started to stir. She groaned and opened her eyes and saw peculiar rabbit ears. She knew instantly who's ears it belonged to.

"PETER! WHAT AM I DOING HERE? PUT ME DOWN!" Alice struggled out of Peter's grip and fell the ground.

"Wait! Alice, my dear! Just calm down first, let me explai-"

"I don't need any explanation! Just let me go back to clover tower!" Peter's smile slowly turned upside down and his lips quivered. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

"Alice, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. Let me just take you into the castle and explain EVERYTHING that has happened and why." Peter said this sincerely looking at Alice's eyes, never once leaving it.

"Peter?" Alice said softly. She pondered for a moment. "Okay, I will." Alice followed Peter into a private room and put her hands on her hips. "Okay, so now what were you saying? What explanation did you want to give to me?"

"Alice, there was a reason why I brought you to Wonderland. It was to-" Peter's voice was cut off and Nightmare-sama appeared out of nowhere.

"STOP! You cannot tell Alice! It is not meant for her to know!" yelled Nightmare. Alice was shocked.

"What? What are you talking about explain to me NOW Nightmare!" She pulled Nightmare close and made his cough out blood. Alice kept shaking the sickly incubus until he could bear it no longer.

"Fine fine!" Nightmare whined, going back to his normal voice. He huffed out air and his face went all serious. " Alice, the reason why I allowed Peter to come get you from your world was to replace your sister, Lorina."

"Lorina? What do you mean? She never came to Wonderland." Alice was confused and tried to hold back the tears from her encounter with her in her dream.

"Well, the Lorina you saw in your world was a doppelganger so no one would suspect that she went missing." Alice's eyes grew wide at this, her clock skipping a beat. Nightmare's eyes grew sad, but he continued on. "She loved you so much Alice. She couldn't bear to part with you, but she ended up being a role-holder in our world."

Then Peter jumped in. "Yes, you seemed very upset about your sister becoming ill and after having that argument with her, so I thought Wonderland would also make you happy." Nightmare glared and continued on. " Yes and that too, you were in a depression. Lorina actually passed away in Wonderland, but her doppelganger just got ill. "

Alice was crying already and her head was facing the floor. "So you mean Nee-san lied to me?" She sounded so pitiful and sad.

"No she didn't mean to, it was for your own good. But she didn't have a successor to her role, which is vital to Wonderland. I already knew it from the start that you were going to have her role after you got your heart replaced by a clock."

Alice shook her head, her hands feeling her heartbeat.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock._

"The memory that I made you forget was-" Nightmare stopped talking. He saw Alice slowly fall to the floor, her head shaking. Memories flooded the girl's mind as she was crying. Images of a funeral, with all the role-holders (who were still young) surrounding a casket. She saw a young girl, who looked exactly like her when she was five, was crying near the casket. The casket was holding a young woman. It was Lorina.

Lorina's eyes were closed, she looked so peaceful looking. Everyone was there including a young version of Nightmare-sama. She then saw Nightmare-sama put his hands to young Alice's forehead. "I'm sorry Alice." said young Nightmare-sama. The young Alice fell backwards into the soft grass, her memories erased. The young Peter White was in love with this little girl (and still now, whoa!) and took her back to reality with the doppelganger Lorina.

"I remember. . ." Alice's voice was shaking under the memories she regained. Peter held the girl carefully in his arms as she was still crying.

"Then. . . that dream I had in the forest," said Alice, "that was Lorina making me a role-holder?" Her eyes pointed to the beautiful rose ring on her left hand. Nightmare-sama nodded his head in shame because he didn't tell Alice any sooner. "Then. . .that was also Nee-san who tried to kill me at the amusement park." Alice's voice chocked at this and her tears just became stronger.

"I have no idea why she did this," replied Nightmare. " She was able to be role-holder with a heart. . . I don't understand" Nightmare looked worryingly at Alice who finally stopped crying.

"Nee-san. . . why?" Alice allowed Peter to comfort her as she was still sitting on the floor. "Peter?" The rabbit man nodded his head. "Peter, can you take me back to the tower now? I want to rest. I just. . I just need time to think first in my own room." Peter respected Alice's request started to lead her out of the castle.

"Alice, this is your fate," Nightmare said in a dreamy way before disappearing. Alice blinked, then continued on walking with Peter back to clover tower. As they approached the tower, Peter stopped.

"What's wrong Peter?" Alice's voice sounded exhausted. It's been a rollercoaster of emotions since she got her heart replaced.

"Alice. . .I'm sorry. . ." for once, the rabbit-man didn't hug or say "I love you." It was a simple apology to the girl. Alice smiled and gave a small kiss onto Peter's cheek. "Thank you." She walked the rest of the way to clover tower. Peter's sad eyes looked away from the girl and walked away.

_Nee-san. . . Was there a real reason to why you did this? Why? . . . Gardener. ._ Alice looked at the ring. It sparkled back at her. Julius heard the door open and looked at Alice. "I expected you to be back a few hours ago."

"I'm sorry Julius, I just got. . caught up I things." The girl obviously looked upset. Julius said no more. Gray walked into the silent room. "What's wrong?" Gray looked confused. Alice didn't respond and went straight to bed. Gray glared at Julius. "I didn't do anything." Julius said. Gray turned away and started to go after the brunette.

"Leave her alone. She's upset." said the clockmaker without looking up. Gray stopped. _He's telling the truth. . . I'll just find her later. . ._ Gray sighed and went back to his work room looking for the incubus.

Alice sat on her bed, her hand over her chest.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock._

Alice kept listening to her heartbeat until she was fast asleep. A voice appeared. "I love you so much Alice."

_Nee-san. . ._

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><p><strong>Ehh. . this chapter was a bit too serious for me. . but at least it cleared up a few things about Lorina hehehe :) So alice has been to wonderland before? wow! such a big discovery! Where will Alice go? What will Alice do? Hmmm. . .. Who will she fall in love with now? (Now that she knows Peter was in love with her since she was a child) ARghh! so many things to think about!<strong>

**Please review and thanks for reading! Next chapter. . . a visit to the mansion. .. :O**


	8. Chapter 8: The Hatter's Feelings

**Hellooo! Seo Hyun here! :D Well, now that Alice has found out about her role in Wonderland, what kind of strengths did she gain? Hmm. . . all will be revealed at the hatter's mansion. . . hahaha Blood. . . Please enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Heart no Kuni no Alice**

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><p>Chapter Eight: The Hatter's Feelings<p>

Alice woke up groggily as the sunlight hit her eyes. She moaned for a moment and yawned. As she rubbed her eyes and scanned the room and at her windowsill, she saw a small bird. _What's that doing there? _She walked over and saw that the bird was hurt and dying. _Oh no! The poor bird is going to die! I have to do something. _She gently picked up the bird and headed for the door to find Gray.

As Alice walked down the hall to find Gray, her rose ring started to glow. It became brighter and brighter, and then, it just stopped. Alice did not notice for she was concerned about the dying bird.

"Gray! Gray!" Gray's response was quick as he jumped out of his bed, still in his boxers. He opened his bedroom door quickly and saw the distressed brunette.

"Alice! What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Alice shook her head. "No, this poor bird is dying, can you do anything to save it? I think it has a broken wing as well." Gray looked at the bird. He gave Alice a strange expression.

"What are you talking about Alice? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just check the-" Alice stopped. She looked the bird, it was normal and perfectly healthy. It struggled under Alice's grip and flew away. Feathers fell around Gray and Alice.

"Alice, please don't do that again. You had me worried for second there." Gray's eyebrows arched up. " Are you REALLY sure you're okay?"

Alice stamped her right foot on the ground. "Yes I'm fine! But I swear, that bird was dying just a minute ago!" Gray scratched his head. "Okay then Alice. Just get some rest, maybe you're still tired from yesterday." Alice's cheeks flushed a light red. "Fine. . ."

Gray and Alice just stood, staring at each other for a moment. Alice hadn't realized it, but Gray was moving closer in on Alice. Just when their faces were inches apart, Alice spoke. "umm Gray. . . you're boxers." Alice blushed and turned away. The ex-assassin looked down at himself and blushed fiercely. His boxers were slightly see through and he wasn't wearing any underwear.

"I'm sorry, I'll go first," Alice blushed and dashed out the door. Gray, who was totally mortified, groaned. _Arghhh! I just blew it between me and Alice. . . how embarrassing. _The ex-assassin changed and got ready to drag the incubus out of bed.

As Alice walked back to her bedroom she stared the ring. The shape of the rose changed. The petals seemed like they rearranged themselves in a different order. _Hmm. . . that's weird. . . _She looked at it again. _Maybe it. . . nawww. . . I don't think so. . ._ The brunette shook her head twice and changed out of her nightgown and into her blue dress with an apron. She headed downstairs and found the clockmaker working on several clocks.

"Julius, I'm going to the Hatter's mansion." Julius looked up with a frown. "Didn't you go yesterday?" Alice responded, "I wasn't able to. . . I got kind of lost on the way after coming from the amusement park. " The girl didn't want to tell the clockmaker about her becoming a role-holder. (Only Nightmare and Peter know about this). "Okay then. . . are you feeling better?" Alice nodded her head, smiling. "Yes. I won't get into trouble, bye!" The clockmaker shook his head. "Weird woman. . "

Alice walked down the path and soon, she approached the Hatter's mansion. Immediately, she saw the bloody twins tossing a grenade (luckily not activated yet) back and forth to each other. Their eyes shined as they saw Alice approach the mansion.

"It's Nee-san! Hooray!" yelled Dee and Dum. They rushed over the tiny girl and tackled her. There was a huge puff of smoke. When Alice opened her eyes, Dee and Dum had transformed into their adult forms. They looked more masculine and mature (much more hotter for sure! *squeal*). Alice blushed as they hugged her affectionately.

"It's good to see you two!" said Alice "Can you get off of me, it's kind of getting hard to breath." The bloody twins saw the girl turning a bit blue. "Oh! Sorry nee-san!" said Dee. "We didn't mean to!" said Dum finishing the sentence. "It's okay guys!" smiled Alice. As the twins helped Alice get up, Elliot was already approaching them. He saw Alice coming when he was inside the mansion. (Such a creep, you like stalking too Elliot? hahaha)

"Alice!" the hare ran towards the tiny girl. "Elliot! How are you? It's been awhile since I visited you guys!" Alice felt comfortable when Elliot was around. She felt nervous under Blood and scared with the twins around (weapons, yeah!).

"Great Alice!" Elliot turned his eyes to the adult formed twins. "Watcha looking at sissy rabbit?" said Dee with an eyebrow arched up. "Yeah, jealous?" said Dum doing a pose at him and Alice. Elliot grew mad. "NO! Change back to normal, it's annoying!"

"You're not the boss of us!" said Dum sticking out his tongue. "Go ahead and try you newbie-hare!" said Dee doing the same thing as Dum. Elliot's face flushed as he got mad. He pulled his gun out of thin air and just as he was about to fire at the bloody twins, Blood stepped in.

"It seems as if the young lady is being bothered again. " he smiled, a sensational smile that made Alice's cheek flush a light pink. Blood offered Alice a hand which she gladly accepted.

"Now Elliot, please stop this commotion and go finish your paper work. Dee, Dum. . ." Blood thought for a moment. "As long as you guard the gates, you can stay in that form." The bloody twins smiled innocently towards Alice as Elliot rolled his eyes. "Now, shall we young lady?" said Blood soothingly. Alice smiled and followed him inside the mansion. They walked all the way to his work room, papers neatly stacked on his desk. Books lined the walls which looked exquisite. Two small sofas were placed in the middle of the room, decorated with a lush color of red and rose print.

"Please, take a seat." Blood led Alice onto one of the sofas. He sat across from her. A servant brought in some black tea and placed it on the small table. Alice felt nervous as Blood drank his tea silently.

"So, what has the young lady come for?"

Alice looked up at him. "I just wanted to thank you, Elliot, and the twins for visiting me at the hospital. It was really nice of you guys to come."

Blood put his cup down, frowning. He remember what had happened and felt partly responsible for getting Alice hurt. "No. . ."

"Excuse me?" Alice was confused.

"No. . . I don't deserve that thank you, neither does Elliot or the twins." Blood sounded really strange and it was not like him at all. Usually Blood would first insult the girl and then try to do something to impress her. Alice was stunned.

"Why?"

"I. . . I feel like it was my fault." Blood's voice was really quiet. "I hadn't realized that you would actually get into real trouble. I was so use to you being involved in our quarrels." Blood turned a bit pink on the face as he told his feelings to Alice. (Omg! :D)

Alice smiled. "It's okay Blood. I'm fine, perfectly-" Alice stopped as she felt a trickle of water slide down her cheeks. It was a tear. Blood stood up and walked over to the girl. More tears started to rush out of her eyes. She covered her face with her hands. Blood sat close to the brunette pulling away the her hands. He took her hands and kissed them. Alice blushed, still softly crying.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock. _

Alice could feel her clock beat a little faster. Blood leaned over, both their faces inches away and then Alice felt something soft on her lips. Blood kissed her passionately and soon, his hands moved away from hers. His hands moved down to her waist, pulling her closer, deepening the kiss. Alice's mind was frozen. She didn't know what do. She closed her eyes and relaxed, letting Blood kiss her.

When Blood noticed that Alice allowed him to kiss her. He started to pull her closer, just close enough that he could pull her dress zipper down. Alice realized what he was doing. She pushed him (kind of violently hehe) and broke off their kiss.

"What are you doing?" Alice gasped as she tried to regain her breath from the kiss.

"You were enjoying that, weren't you young lady?" Blood smirked.

"N-n-no. I. . .I was just feeling something at the moment." The girl blushed and stood up, zipping her dress back up. She headed towards the door. Blood was faster though and blocked the door to freedom.

"You do this every time. I show you my feelings, you reject them and run off." Blood's voice was scaring Alice.

"I-I-I don't know what you're talking about." Alice stammered.

"Alice, I love you." He put his hand over her chest where her heart should have been. "Whether you have a clock as a heart, I still love you." His gaze was serious and Alice was in a trance.

Alice shook her head and Blood moved out of her way. He opened the door. "Go ahead." Alice was confused. "What?"

"I thought you wanted to leave. Now go." The hatter's voice was getting deeper and scarier. The brunette left quickly, without saying goodbye to the twins and Elliot.

_What am I doing? He told me he loved me. . . shouldn't I be happy? I don't know what to feel. . ._

Alice was scared. She ran all the way back to clover tower without eating dinner. Gray and Julius looked worried as Nightmare was half smiling (what a meanie. . . reading people's personal thoughts. . .)

Alice laid in her bed, stressed out by what Blood said. "I love you." She mouthed the words and blushed herself. She sighed and closed her eyes.

_nee-san. . . what's wrong with me?_

As Alice went to sleep, her rose ring glowed.

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><p><strong>OMG! Blood and Alice moment! Hooray! Hmm. . . what is Alice going to do? Her feelings are conflicted as different men love her. What will she do with her newfound ability? Alice is so weird sometimes. . . I question myself why I write like this hehehe :D (Oh yeah, serima, how was the moment between Blood and Alice? Idk, but I thought it was okay. . . I'm not that good at writing mushy stuff haha.)<strong>

**Wow. . this is the longest chapter I have written so far! yay me! :) If you'd like something to be in this story, suggest something! :) I can probably work it into my story ;) Thanks for reading and please review!**


	9. Chapter 9: Role Revealed

**Seo Hyun here! :D Hmm. . I was listening to this song that reminded me of HnKnA.. . Search it!:) "Tell Yourself by Clazziquai" (it's Korean!) Well, it was really upbeat so it helped me on chapter eight.**

**So. . . chapter nine. . . it's a shocker. . . Alice. . . *closes eyes* ahhh! Please enjoy ;D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Heart no Kuni no Alice!**

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><p>Chapter Nine: Role Revealed<p>

Alice was breathing softly in the middle of the night as her rose ring started to glow. It grew bright enough to light the whole room. Alice felt the light's presence and slowly opened her eyes to the glowing ring.

"Ahhh! What is this?" Alice rolled out of bed trying to take off the ring, but it just stuck onto her harder.

Then, Lorina's voice came. _"Alice, my dear sister, I have come to train you in your role. But I have to do this. Please, don't struggle, allow me to help."_ Lorina's voice became more distant. "Wait! Nee-san! Ahhh!" The rose ring grew brighter and vines and petals came out from the ring, encompassing the small girl's body. "AHHHH!"

Alice's screams could be heard by Gray, Julius, and Nightmare. All three men saw the glow from underneath the door cracks of Alice's room.

"Alice!" They all shouted at the same time, barging down the door. Then, Julius froze in place at the doorway, Gray's eyes widened, and Nightmare's mouth was open.

There, lying on the floor, was Alice Liddell. The eruption from the ring caused rips in the girl's nightgown. The nightgown was shredded at the bottom and one of the shoulder straps were ripped. A few holes could be visible on the front of the nightgown. Her hair grew outrageously longer, all the way to her ankles. Gray and Nightmare were too shocked. Julius rushed over the girl's side trying to wake her up. As the clockmaker moved her hair out of her face, he stopped. Alice looked much more mature, as if she were in her later teens to early twenties. The girl looked like she was in pain. As she moaned, Julius examined her and saw the rose ring on her hand.

_That wasn't there before. _thought Julius. He pulled her hand closer as he was holding her, but then the ring reacted violently and caused Julius to fly backwards into Gray. Nightmare's face went all serious and stared at Alice from a distance. It seemed as if he was communicating with Lorina.

Gray pushed Julius off of him. They gave a few glances at each other before helping Alice get up. Alice moaned again and her eyes opened.

_What's going on. . . Gray? Julius? Even Nightmare is here. . .my head. . ._ Alice rubbed her head as she tried to think straight.

"Alice, Alice, are you alright?" Gray was really worried as he looked at the transformed girl.

"I think I'm fine. What happened? There was really bright light and something entangled me. That's all I could remember. . ." Alice sat up in her bed.

"Alice, where did you get that ring?" Julius moved his eyes over to the girl's left hand. The rose ring had changed the position of its petals again, taking on a different look.

"This? Umm . . . I found it. . ." The brunette was really bad at lying. Julius could already see through her. Then, Nightmare stepped in and started to explain.

"Julius, Gray, meet the gardener, otherwise known as the-" Julius cut him off and finished the sentence.

"-healer of life." Gray looked like he was in a daze. "How can this be? There hasn't been the gardener for many years. I thought that role was lost forever." Gray shook his head in disbelief. Julius was staring at Alice the whole time.

"Gray, Julius. . . I'm sorry." Alice apologized (she still looks pretty small though haha). "I just found out this myself yesterday. . ." Alice's voice trailed off. Then, Lorina (in a ghostly form) appeared.

"Alice!"

"Nee-san!"

"Alice, I'm so sorry. I had to do this for you or otherwise, it would be hard to control your role as the gardener. I will help you discover your role, but for working out your role, Nightmare can help." Lorina's eyes looked at the sickly incubus who was already softly coughing.

"I'm so sorry it had to be this way. I wish it could have been done easier. Also, please don't get mad at Nightmare. Thank you. I love you so much Alice." Lorina disappeared before all of them into the moonlight.

A tear trickled from Alice. Julius caught it and stared at the brunette. Alice looked frozen, then more tears just streamed out from her eyes and she started to cried in Julius's arms. Gray looked annoyed but he felt more pain to see Alice cry. Nightmare bowed his head and left the room.

Alice cried until the tears stopped. She fell asleep in Julius's arms and he gently laid her back onto her bed. Both of the men left the room to leave the girl alone.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock._

That was the first noise Alice hears as she wakes up. She held her hand up to her clock, feeling it tick back and forth. Alice gave out a sigh. As she got out of her bed, she tripped over her hair (remember, it still grew super long!).

"Ugh! What is this?" Alice looked down. "Is this my hair?" The girl looked confused. She ran downstairs to Julius and the others.

"Julius! What happened to me?"

Julius looked up at Alice, who was much more attractive looking than before (not that she wasn't pretty but she got more beautiful haha). He gave a small blush. "Alice, you still remember what happened last night right?" Alice shook her head up and down. "Yeah, I do! But explain this!" she pointed to her hair.

"Well, you sort of. . . umm. . . grew older." Gray mumbled as he was blushing too. Alice was still confused. "You also had your nightgown torn up from the transformation." Alice looked down at herself and found herself lightly clothed. She turned a bit pink and ran to the bathroom. Nightmare snickered at the brunette.

Alice looked at herself. _This is me?_ Alice noticed her face gotten prettier and her hair was hanging all the way to her ankles. Her hair had gotten more softer and silkier like Julius's. Her body was much more mature (to put it that way haha). Her nightgown, like Gray said, was torn up. The dress had gotten shredded and it was short, all the way up to her thighs, and her second strap of the gown was about to rip off.

Alice felt embarrassed and changed quickly. When she got her clothes from the closet, she noticed that her clothes had changed too. Her dress had turned to a v-neck with elegant lacing around it. The lacing design was also on her sleeves, the waist of the dress, and the bottom of the dress. The dress flowed (all the way to her calves)instead of her old blue dress was layered and puffed out slightly. She still had an apron but it was smaller and covered only half way down her dress and it was embroidered with a curly design. Alice looked beautiful.

_Now what to do with my hair. . ._ Alice couldn't leave her hair down now that it was all the way down to her ankles. She wrapped up the her hair and put it in a messy, yet pretty bun. _There! Much more better. . Now I can ask Nightmare and the others what happened._

Alice first went to look for her shoes. They turned into black flats which suited the older Alice. She frowned. _Nee-san may have good taste in clothes. . but these really aren't my style. . _Alice put on the flats and made her way downstairs to the trio. They all stared at Alice. The first thing that came into their minds was , "she's gorgeous. . ."

Gray dropped a cup while Nightmare hacked out blood, and Julius fumbled with his tools on a clock.

"So how do I look? Do I look better than earlier?"

"You look amazing," said Gray. Alice smiled as she sat next to the clockmaker, who started blushing. Alice turned her head to Nightmare.

"So, what am I suppose to being doing know that I'm a role-holder?" Nightmare put his hot chocolate down, still wrapped in layers of blankets.

"Well. . . from what Lorina told me, your suppose to find it on your own. . . Her instructions were kind of vague actually. . . I'm not sure," Nightmare said this while he shrugged his shoulders.

"That's really helpful," said Alice sarcastically. "Are you sure that's all she said?"

"I'm pretty sure. But she did say this one thing to me: 'Don't lose sight of your path.' I don't know but she said she'll always be there for you." Nightmare went back to drinking his hot chocolate. "You might as well find Vivaldi. She might know since she was taken away to be role-holder as a small girl."

"Vivaldi? But, she doesn't know that I became a role-holder."

"Everyone knows Alice."

"What?"

Gray interrupted. "Thanks to somebody here," Gray looked at the incubus, "Everyone got a vision that you were going to be the gardener."

"Great. . . more to deal with. . . I suppose I can visit Vivaldi. . . As long I as I can find a way to avoid Ace and Peter." Alice got a headache just thinking about the two. "I'll be going then. Thanks for everything, see you later!" Alice jumped out of her chair and headed towards the door.

"Stay safe Alice," Julius said it so softly that it made Alice feel conscious of herself. Gray glared at the clockmaker. "Don't worry, I will," smiled Alice.

She waved to them good-bye and started to walk down the path to the castle.

_I'm a role-holder now. . . I'm so excited yet anxious. . . Nee-san. . please. . . tell me more. . ._

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock._

Alice held her hands close to her clock. This is going to be a long adventure for Alice.

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><p><strong>Omg! So much change since Alice got a clock! :D I'm getting excited thinking all about this (and I wrote it)! hahaha! Well, I guess everyone's gonna be shocked not only at Alice being a role-holder, but becoming older and gorgeous! ;D<strong>

**Please review! :) Coming up next, Vivaldi's advice and a lovestruck knight. ;)**


	10. Chapter 10: Double Trouble

**Hello! Seo Hyun here! Woahhhhhh. . . . I've been gone for so long, what happened? hahaha! Well, I was on vacation for 2 weeks, and then got lazy for another few days. I had to re read what I wrote so that everything made sense haha! :D Well, Please enjoy, I will post up 2 chapters to make it up ;)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Heart no Kuni no Alice**

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><p>Chapter 10: Double Trouble<p>

As Alice walked down the path towards Heart castle, she heard rustling noises from the bushes.

"He-hello?" Alice gulped as she stepped away from the bushes.

The bushes rustled even more and two figures popped out. Alice fell backwards and sighed, closing her eyes. It was the bloody twins.

"Hey Dee, who is this?" asked Dum.

"I don't know… Hey, let's play with this pretty lady," said Dee with an evil smile planted on his face. Before Alice could make a noise, everything went dark.

The twins had bagged her and took her off to the hatter's mansion. When Alice realized where she was, she started panicking. _I can't believe I'm back here. . . I just need to see Vivaldi... _Alice became annoyed at the fact that she was bound in ropes and lying in the middle of the twin's room. She couldn't even scream because they gagged her; only muffled noises could be heard from a distance. Then two eerie shadows cast upon Alice.

"Oi, look brother, the pretty lady woke up!" said Dee with a glee on his face.

"Hi there pretty lady? Watcha doing here?" said Dum evily.

_I'm obviously being held captive by you two. . .Oh yeah. . They don't know what I look like . . . do they know my role? _Alice felt a cold sweat come onto her neck.

Then suddenly, Dum pulled out a small axe and pointed it towards Alice. Alice tried her best to scream but her screams were muffled by the rope she was gagged by. Dee, standing just behind his twin brother, took a closer look at the older Alice.

_This lady looks familiar. Hmmmm. . . . She also has a face. . could it be? _Dee pondered for a moment and then moved Dum aside.

"Hey! What are you doing brother?" Dee didn't respond to Dum, but took off the gag. As soon as he did that, Alice took a deep breath and screamed at them.

"DEE! DUM!" Alice was furious at the twins. "Why did you gag me?"

The twins looked confused at first. They stared at the young lady who was flushed in red from screaming at them. Then a lightbulb appeared above their heads.

"Onee-san?"

"YES IT'S ME, ALICE!" The twins mouths' dropped open as they looked at Alice. She had gotten ten times more prettier than before and older too.

"Onee-san looks so much prettier," said the twins in a daze. Alice blushed at this comment. "Just stop and untie me first."

As the twins untied her, they questioned about her role. "Onee-san, so you really are the gardener?" Alice nodded her head. "But how did you get older?" Alice blushed at this. "It's a long story, I don't want to explain it guys." The twins gave a sad look but continued on with untying the young lady. Unfortunately for Alice, Dee and Dum didn't have such innocent minds. They smiled evilly again, making Alice feel nervous.

As soon as Alice was free, Dee pushed Alice onto the bed. A poof of smoke appeared. Alice's mind was scattered in all directions. In front of her were Dee and Dum in adult form giving off handsome smiles, half-naked. . (hahaha, I'm not going to describe it any farther haha) Alice blushed. "What are you guys doing?" Alice is too innocent to realize what was going to happen.

The bloody twins approached her, Dum pinning her to the bed while Dee made room in between her legs. Alice protested and started to scream, but soon her screams were washed away by a kiss from Dum. Dee started to pull her dress up so that her legs and panties were showing. Alice blushed but couldn't say anything because Dum was kissing her. Alice's hair bun unraveled, her long hair encompassing the bed. Just before Dee could pull off her dress, Elliot barged into the room.

"OI! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU BRATS! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SCARF AND BELT?" Elliot was holding his torn up scarf and scratched up belt in front of the twins and realized what was going on. He blushed fiercely looking at the awkward position Alice and the twins were in. Looking at Alice's legs and stuff. . . (hahaha you guys can imagine more. . ) he turned away. "What are you guys doing? Is that Alice?" The twins sat Alice up and hugged her protectively, still in adult forms.

"Yeah it's Alice, and you can't have her you stupid hare!" said Dee and Dum. Elliot blushed at this even harder. "I don't want her! Release her!" The twins refused. As the twins and Elliot went into a heated argument, another figure came into the room.

Blood.

"My, my, what has the young lady gotten herself into?" Blood said this suavely as Alice managed to get out of the twins grasp and stood up away from them.

"I didn't do anything! It's not my fault!" Alice was blushing at Blood. She hated every time the mafia boss made a rude comment at her. It wasn't fair.

"Well?" He eyed at Elliot and the twins, who poofed back into their kid forms. "Umm. . . boss I had no idea and ummm.. ." Elliot broke out into sweat. "It was the stupid hare's fault!" but before any three of the them could run out of the room, Blood stopped them.

"Elliot, don't let me catch you again escaping work. Dee, Dum, your pay has been deducted by half this month."

"What?" The twins sighed and walked out the room. They gave Alice a smirk and ran out just as Elliot chased them away.

"I'm sorry about that young lady," Blood eyed Alice. Alice's dress was messed up, apron out of place, and her hair reached all the way to her ankles.

"It-it's okay," Alice stammered. "I should be going to see Vivaldi." As soon as she walked, she tripped on her hair. Blood was quick and caught her. Alice blushed at how close they were.

"If it's Vivaldi you are looking for, she's in the rose garden." Blood smiled. "But first, why don't we get you dressed up. We don't want the queen to see you in this state." Alice had a bad feeling about this as he led her into his study room.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock. _

Alice's clock felt so much louder than her heart. As soon as she entered the room, Blood slammed it shut. _Oh no. . ._

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><p><strong>Awww poor Alice. All she wants to do is meet up with Vivaldi... Gosh. . . i feel like everyone in HnKnA are perverts. . . hahaha. . . that makes it interesting. . . :) Well, onto the next chapter I promised! ;D Thanks for reading! Please review! :)<strong>


	11. Chapter 11: More Explanations and Such

**Seo Hyun here! Like I promised, I wrote up a second chapter for today! :D Well, Alice has certainly gotten lots of attention (a lot more that before) since she became a role-holder. Not to mention that she's older and the twins want to seduce her, haha. Well, please enjoy another Blood and Alice moment. (Before Vivaldi comes haha).**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Heart no Kuni no Alice!**

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><p>Chapter 11: More Explanations and Such ;)<p>

Blood slammed the door shut, leaving the two alone in the study room. Alice sweated nervously as he walked closer towards her. Blood grabbed her wrists and sniffed it in. He breathed warmly onto her arm and Alice felt a blush rising upon her as he was doing this.

"B-blood?" Alice didn't know what to say anymore. He looked up. "hm?" He continued on and he reached for the back of her zipper of her dress. Alice wanted to stop him, but something held her back from doing so. Blood smiled at Alice's cooperation. After he zipped the dress all the way down, he stopped. Then a maid came in and brought in an elegant dress for Alice to wear.

"I just came to help you _undress_ my lady," said Blood. Alice looked at him suspiciously before he left the room.

"Miss Alice, here let me help you get prepared to meet Queen Vivaldi," said the faceless maid. The maid helped Alice get out of her wrinkled cloths and put on the elegant dress. The dress was a baby blue color and was very silky. The dress hugged her curves and it flowed out at her legs. It was beautiful. The maid smiled and sat Alice down to fix her long hair. Alice's hair was braided first and then wrapped into a simple bun. After about an hour of fixing her up, Alice was finished.

Alice walked out of the mansion after she thanked the faceless maid (who was happy with the work she had done on Alice) and headed towards the rose garden. _I feel so . . . so mature. . . _Alice started to feel the maturity she had gotten back at clover tower. As she ventured deeper into the rose garden, she saw a small table with two chairs with Vivaldi sitting on one. Blood was tending to some roses nearby.

"Alice! We have been expecting you," said Vivaldi. "You look stunning. We would have preferred something more red on you, but it **is** our baby brother's taste." She gave a look at Blood before returning to Alice. "Come and sit, Alice. We wish to tell you all about your role! We are so excited!"

Alice sat down and drank some black tea before looking back at Vivaldi. "Vivaldi, what am I suppose to do exactly? Julius told me that you had this kind of experience happened to you before."

Vivaldi gave an answer after she set her cup of tea down. "Well Alice, the gardener is supposedly the most important role in all of Wonderland. Your older sister, Lorina, held this role before falling ill and passing away. She had the power to heal and give life back. But she also had the power to take life away from others. It was a power that was great and everyone honored her."

Alice listened intently. She didn't notice but Blood pulled up a seat next to them listening to the explanation and story as well.

"So how did you become a role-holder? I know you got taken away as a child, but did this ever happen to you?" Alice was confused as she pointed at her hair and body.

"We were taken away from our family, but we are afraid that we never actually encountered this kind of thing before. We never transformed or anything. It just happened. But you are special Alice. You have powers and strengths you will discover soon." As she said this she picked up her left hand that had the rose ring on it. "You are destined to do great, Alice."

Blood gave a small cough before Alice turned to look at Blood. "It is getting late, I will have Elliot take you back to clover tower."

Alice said goodbye to Vivaldi before walking with Blood to the entrance of the mansion. Something felt strange. Alice collapsed onto Blood (who caught her) and more memories started to flood into her mind.

In the memory, she was still very young, five years old to be exact. She was standing next to a casket where a young lady was in. It was Lorina. The memory moved away and she was in a room. She looked depressed and a boy that looked a bit older than her approached her. He looked like Blood. The younger version of Blood hugged her tightly as she was crying. The young Alice kept saying she didn't want to leave. The young Blood moved close to her face and then the memory faded.

Alice gave out a small moan. "Are you all right Alice?" Blood's eyebrows arched up looking at the young girl. "I'm alright. I just feel tired."

"If you are tired, it would be an honor if you stayed at the mansion for the night."

"No it's alright; I just want to go back to clover tower now." Blood frowned at this but amazingly, he didn't force her. Elliot came and walked her back to clover tower. As they neared the tower, Alice thanked him and told him that she could walk on her own to the tower. Elliot blushed a lot and said good-bye to Alice.

"Alice," Elliot stopped. "Huh?" Alice looked at the hare. "No it's nothing." Elliot waved her good-bye and went back to the mansion.

Alice opened the doors of the clover tower and gave a huge sigh. She felt so confused and sad. She just wanted to see her sister and have everything be the way it was before.

"Alice? Are you alright?" Gray came into the room, but before she could respond, she felt dizzy. She fell the ground. Gray caught her and felt worried. "Alice, alice?" He shook her, but she was already asleep. Gray gave out a small huff of air and then carried her to bed. She looked so worn out. He placed her on her bed and gave her a small kiss on the forehead before leaving the room.

Meanwhile, Julius was still working on his clocks and then he realized that it was already late at night.

"Alice?" He looked around, but just sighed. Then, Gray appeared out of nowhere. "She's asleep; you didn't notice her when she came in?" Gray's voice sounded irritated as Julius was always oblivious to things when he was working. Julius didn't respond. Gray spoke up again: "And yes, she's okay if you were going to ask. She was exhausted, but she's fine." He gave one last glare at Julius before leaving his office to go back to sleep.

_Aghhh! What's wrong with me? Alice. . . Alice. . . _Julius went up to the stairs and his feet led him to Alice's room_. Why am I even here? What am I doing?_

He carefully opened the door and took a peek at the sleeping Alice. He breathed out and pulled a chair next to the sleeping girl. He took her left hand where the rose ring was. He examined it before gently stroking Alice's delicate fingers. The clockmaker was tired and he started to drift off to one of his memories.

In his memory: Julius was around 10 years old. He stared at the casket where Lorina was being held. All of the role-holders (in training) stared at the crying five year old: Alice Liddell. Everyone adored her, not only because she was cute, but she was kind and the younger sister of the gardener. Alice was depressed and she was sitting in a room. Julius was going to approach her, but Blood beat him to her. He hid, spying on the two. Blood was holding the girl tightly as she cried. He bent down near her face and gave a small peck on her cheek. Julius was fuming with jealousy and stormed into the room. He picked a fight with the boy and Alice was crying even more. Two adults came in and took the two boys away. Alice was left alone.

Julius fell limp, his head on Alice's bedside. _I love you Alice._ He felt the tick-tock beats coming from Alice. It beat at a same pace as Julius's clock.

Morning appeared and Julius was greeted by Alice, who was in shock. He then shook out of his daze, realizing he slept next to her the whole night.

The clockmaker blushed. "JULIUS?"

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><p><strong>Ahahahaha! XD Julius is too cute for me! I really am a Julius and Gray fan! :) I always have a hard time writing about them though . . . Blood is so much easier since I can read his moves in the manga and the game haha X) <strong>

**Well, it seems like more memories will re surface and that Alice will find out soon. I realized I forgot about the Jokers completely. . . Well, they'll play some part. . maybe the man who tried to kill Alice? hahaha idk! any suggestions?**

**Thanks for reading! please review ;)**


	12. Chapter 12: Haircut! XD

**Seo Hyun Here! Well, time to get focused! Re-cap: Alice got some explanations from Vivaldi, which was no help, and a memory of Blood came up. Julius recalls that memory before sleeping soundly next to Alice. Now, Julius has woken up to Alice. Please Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Heart no Kuni no Alice!**

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><p>Chapter 12: Haircut! XD<p>

"JULIUS?" Alice looked at the blushing clockmaker who stood up, looking at her. "What are you doing in my bedroom?" Julius didn't say anything. He just stood there for a moment dazed. He shook his head and tried his best to answer her back. "Well I-um. . . you see, I happened to stop by and um- I accidently fell asleep." His voice was already to a mumble when he finished.

Alice sighed. "Julius, I told you to get enough rest! You couldn't even walk to your room and fell asleep here!" It seems like the girl misunderstood Julius. She thought that he was half-asleep, sleepwalking to be precise, and thought he accidently slept in her room. Julius said nothing and apologized before leaving the room to go back to working on his clocks.

Alice stepped out of her bed and stretched out her arms. She touched the rose ring. Nothing happened. _Hmmm. . . what am I supposed to do today? Vivaldi's answer was sort of vague and that memory. . . that memory. . . _Alice tried her best to recall that memory but she couldn't. All she knew was that her sister and Blood was in it. It really bothered her but she gave up and started to change into her dress. Her hair was really unbearable.

Looking into her mirror, she stared at her hair for a full five minutes before making a decision. She ran downstairs and saw that Julius was already working on the clocks, Nightmare was nowhere to be found, and Gray was sitting in his office trying to keep up with all the papers. She went up to Julius and asked him if he had a pair of scissors. He stopped what he was doing and looked in his drawers.

**Empty.**

**Screwdrivers.**

**Screws.**

**Springs.**

He shook his head and said he didn't have any. Alice thanked him and went to Gray. Julius shook his head. "Troublesome woman. . ."

"Gray, do you have a pair of scissors I could borrow?" The ex-assassin looked in his drawer and pulled out a black pair. He handed it to the girl, eyebrows arched up. "Why do you need them?" But she had already dashed out of the room, only seeing a glimpse of her very long brownish hair leaving the room. Gray sighed and went back to work.

Alice almost tripped on the way back to her room because of her hair. She closed and locked her door and stared into the mirror for one last time.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock._

**SNIP.**

It sounded so loud. A piece of her hair fell gracefully to the floor. More pieces of her hair joined that first piece onto the floor. Alice snipped away at her long and beautiful hair. She cut it so that it reached halfway to her back.

_Perfect! Now I can walk properly and I don't have to put my hair up! _The brunette disliked having her hair up and the long hair was clearly annoying her. She was a pretty good cutter. Her hair was layered and gave her a sense of being more mature and prettier. She smiled at her handwork (more like DIY haha) and went downstairs to prepare lunch for the three men.

Gray, Julius, and Nightmare sat at the table waiting for Alice. "Lunch!" sang Alice happily. Their reactions weren't quite as she thought it would be. Gray and Julius's eyes grew wide, slightly blushing, and Nightmare's mouth hanged opened, speechless at the brunette.

"Alice, your hair. . ." Julius's voice drifted away.

"Is this why you wanted the scissors?" said Gray with eyes locked onto her. She nodded her head. "Yup. The long hair didn't really suit me and it was getting in the way. It doesn't look nice?" She tilted her head the side, swaying her head. She gave an innocent look to the three.

Gray's thoughts: She looks more mature than I thought. She looks just about 1 or 2 years younger than me now! Alice. . . so beautiful. . . I want to kiss you. . . I hate that clockmaker, how could he?

Julius's thoughts: Alice, you look stunning. There's nothing that can compare to you. . . What am I thinking? I kissed her and now I want to . . .

Nightmare read Gray and Julius's thoughts, and started laughing onto the floor.

Alice bowed her head down and felt embarrassed as Nightmare laughed. "I guess it doesn't look that good." As soon as she said this, Gray and Julius complimented her, telling her that she looked beautiful and that it suited her very well. But Nightmare kept on laughing on the floor. The brunette couldn't take it.

"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM NIGHTMARE?" She stomped her foot on the ground. The incubus stopped laughing and wiped a tear of laughter from his eyes. He started to cough up a bit of blood but regained his composure. "It's nothing Alice! You look marvelous it's just that pfft—" he stoped talking and laughed again. "Just what?" The girl was confused now.

"It's just that pfft—Gray and Julius they want to—" immediately, the two men grabbed the incubus by the arms and dragged him out of the room, giving him a beating. Alice shook her head. "I feel like they get stranger and stranger every day." The brunette set up the lunch, ate her portion, and left to visit Boris at the amusement park.

Her clock kept on ticking. _Argh. . . I still can't get used to that sound. I feel I like I hear it every minute, every second of the day! _

Alice walked out of the tower, leaving Nightmare to fend for himself as the two men beat him up with no mercy.

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><p><strong>Hahahaha! i just felt like doing a light chapter today ;D This is actually my shortest that I have done XD Well, at least Alice won't be bothered by her super duper long hair again! It's shorter than Julius's hair now! Well, next chapter: Alice's first day of training with Boris and Pierce haha!<strong>

**thanks for reading! please review! ;D**


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